Yarn control means for automatic winding machine

ABSTRACT

The present yarn control means is adapted for use with an automatic winding machine of the type including active and reserve supply packages at each winding station and means for presenting the reserve supply package to active position when the exhausted yarn sensor indicates that the yarn on the active supply package is exhausted. The present yarn control means is in the form of a yarn guide which is of sufficient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough and is small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough. When engaged by looped or tangled yarn, the yarn guide is moved upwardly until the yarn breaks and is then moved downwardly to withdraw the broken yarn from the exhausted yarn sensor to prevent continued operation of the retying mechanism of the machine.

ited States Patent Morton Sept. 2, 1975 YARN CONTROL MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC WINDING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Alfred L. Morton, Ranlo, NC.

[73] Assignee: Pharr Yarns, Incorporated,

McAdenville, NC.

[22] Filed: June 18, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 480,584

[52] US. Cl. 242/36; 242/356 R [51] Int. Cl B65h 63/00 [58] Field of Search 242/36, 37, 35.5 R, 35.6 R

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,757,874 8/1956 Marcellus 242/356 R 2,764,362 9/1956 Goodhue et al. 242/356 R 3,081,045 3/1963 Pitts et a1. 242/356 R 3,262,648 7/1966 Livingston 242/356 R Primary ExaminerStanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or FirmParrot, Bell, Seltzer, Park &

Gibson [5 7 ABSTRACT The present yarn control means is adapted for use with an automatic winding machine of the type including active and reserve supply packages at each winding station and means for presenting the reserve supply package to active position when the exhausted yarn sensor indicates that the yarn on the active supply package is exhausted. The present yarn control means is in the form of a yarn guide which is of sufficient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough and is small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough. When engaged by looped or tangled yarn, the yarn guide is moved upwardly until the yarn breaks and is then moved downwardly to withdraw the broken yarn from the exhausted yarn sensor to prevent continued operation of the retying mechanism of the machine.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures YARN CONTROL MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC WINDING MACHINE This invention relates generally to improved yarn control means for automatic winding machines and more particularly to a yarn guide which prevents repeated operation of the retying mechanism of the machine when engaged by looped or tangled yarn which is withdrawn from the active supply package.

The yarn control means of the present invention is particularly applicable to automatic winding machines of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,764,362, issued Sept. 25, 1956 to W. V. Goodhue, et al. and US. Pat. No. 3,081,054, issued Mar. 12, 1963 to T. E. Pitts, et al. Generally, this type of winding machine is provided with means for automatically repairing broken ends which occur during the winding operation and also for tying-in new yarn when the supply of yarn from the active supply package is exhausted. This type of machine is generally known as the UNICONER automatic cone winder manufactured by Leesona Corporation, of Cranston, Rhode Island. The present yarn control means is particularly adapted for use with this type of automatic winding machine which has been provided with a creel for supporting large diameter active and reserve supply packages, of the type disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 480,570, filed June 18, 1974.

When the UNICONER automatic cone winder is provided with a creel for supporting large diameter active and reserve supply packages, as disclosed in my copending application, it sometimes happens that the last few winds of yarn ,on the active supply package are sloughed off the cone or supply tube in a looped or tangled manner. This looped or tangled yarn will not pass through the yarn guide, thereby causing a breakage of the yarn beyond the exhausted yarn sensor of the winding machine. In this event, the retying mechanism of the winding machine continuously operates in an attempt to find the broken ends and tie them together so that the winding operation may be continued. However, the rety ing mechanism will not operate on the brokenend of yarn which is held by the looped or tangled portion, thereby resulting in lost production time of that particular winding station, until the malfunction is noticed and corrected by the operator.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a yarn control means which operates to prevent the repeated operation of the retying mechanism in an attempt to repair a broken yarn end when such broken yarn end is caused by looped or tangled yarn becoming caught and held in advance of the exhausted yarn sensor of the automatic winding machine.

In accordance with the present invention, the yarn control means includes a yarn guide positioned at a predetermined level above the active supply package and including a yarn passage opening therein of sufficient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough as the yarn is withdrawn from the active supply package and being small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough. The yarn guide is supported The broken yarn end is withdrawn from the sensor means when the yarn guide is returned to the predeter mined level by the resilient means and to automatically trigger the indexing means for rotating the reserve package to active position for winding onto the take-up package.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds when taken. in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front 'elevational view of a portion of one side of the automatic winding machine and showing a pair of adjacent yarn winding stations with the present yarn control means associated therewith;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 and with parts of the housing being broken away to illustrate the manner in which the present yarn control means operates in response to engagement by a looped or tangled yarn; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the lowerlright-hand portion of FIG. 2, illustrating the pivotal connection for the yarn guide when the guide is in the lowered or nor mal operating position.

The present yarn control means is illustrated in asso ciation with an automatic winding machine of the type known as the UNICONER winder which has been provided with an improved creel for supporting large diameter active and reserve yarn supply packages, in accordance with my co-pending application. A plurality of identical winding stations, only two of which are illustrated in FIG. 1, are provided along each side of the machine. Only those portions of the winding machine,

have been illustrated which are necessary to an under standing of the operation of the present yarn control means and a more complete description of the other parts ofthe machine may be obtained from the aforementioned patents and my co-pending application.

The machine includes a longitudinally extending main frame 10 and a package support frame 11 which extends along the lower front of one side of the machine. Closely spaced winding stations are provided along the machine and are described as alternate or first winding stations, broadly indicated at W-l, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1, and intervening or second stations, broadly indicated at W-2. Since the adjacent winding stations W-l and W-2 are identical, except for the position of the yarn supply package support means at these adjacent stations, only the winding station W-l will be described in detail and the corresponding parts of the winding station W-2 will bear the same reference characters.

Each winding station includes means for winding yarn from an active supply package A and onto a takeup package 12 which is supported for movement into and out of driving relationship with a yarn traversing drive roll 13. In its path of travel from the active yarn supply package A, the yarn Y being wound passes through the yarn control means of the present invention, to be presently described, over a yarn guide wire 14, between yarn tension discs 15, through an exhausted yarn sensor 16, a slub catcher 17, a wax applicator l8, and over a broken yarn sensor, in the form of a feeler wire 19. The tension disc 15, yarn sensor 16, and slub catcher 17 are mounted on the upper inclined surface of a housing H which is supported on the main frame 10.

Means is also provided for presenting a reserve supply package R to active position for winding onto the take-up package 12 upon exhaustion of the active supply package A and includes a continuously driven vertical drive shaft which is rotatably supported inside of a tubular shaft or creel drive sleeve 21. The upper end of the drive shaft 20 and the sleeve 21 extend into the housing H (FIG. 2) and the vertical drive shaft 20 extends upwardly beyond the upper end of the sleeve 21 and has a drive gear 22 fixed thereto. A one-half revolution clutch mechanism, broadly referred to at 25, is adapted to at times drivingly engage the drive gear 22 with the sleeve 21 and rotate or index the reserve package R to the front of the machine to the active yarn winding position. In order to rotate the yarn supply packages, the active and reserve supply packages A and R are supported on opposite ends of a package support cross-bar 26 which is fixed in its medial portion to the creel drive sleeve 21.

Conventional mechanism, not shown, moves an operating link 26 (FIG. 2) forwardly when the feeler wire 19 is not engaged bythe active yarn Y, as when the yarn breaks and when all of the yarn has been wound from the active yarn supply package. Forward movement of the operating link 26 imparts reciprocation to an actuator hub 30 which is positioned beneath the exhausted yarn sensor 16. The yarn sensor 16 includes a vertically movable plunger 29, the lower end of which is normally supported above the actuator hub 30 by the yarn Y passing through a notch or slot in the medial portion thereof.

A reserve end holding opening 3l'is provided in the inclined upper surface of the housing H (FIG. 1). The reserve end holding opening 31 is suitably connected to a source of suction and is adapted to hold the free end of the yarn from the reserve package R therein, once it is placed therein by the operator. A supply end finding suction tube 32 is supported at each winding station and cooperates with a knot tier 33 in repairing broken ends in the yarn being wound and also operates to tic-in new yarn when the active supply package is exhausted.

In normal operation, the winding of the yarn Y from the active supply package A and to the take-up package 12 is continued as long as the yarn runs through the exhausted yarn sensor 16, to support the plunger 29, and passes over the broken yarn detecting feeler wire 19. When the yarn becomes broken, as when a slub is caught by the slub catcher 17, the yarn no longer engages the feeler wire 19 and the supply end finding suction tube 32 sweeps the surface above the housing H to pick up the broken yarn ends and present them to the knot tier 33 so that the broken yarn ends are repaired and the winding operation continues.

As soon as the yarn being wound no longer maintains the feeler wire 19 in a lowered position, the operating link 26 is moved forwardly to oscillate the act'uatorhub 30. As long as the plunger 29 of the sensor 16 is maintained in a raised position by the yarn passing there through, the clutch mechanism will not be operated so that the active yarn supply package A remains in the same position. However, when the supply of yarn on the active supply package A is exhausted, all of the yarn is wound onto the take-up package 12 so that no yarn is present to hold up the plunger 29 of the sensor 16, and the lower end of the plunger 29 engages the actuator hub to cause the clutch mechanism 25 to be actuated so that the drive sleeve 21 is rotated 180 to thereby move the reserve package R into active position. The manner in which the clutch mechanism 25 operates is clearly described in my co-pending application.

In accordance with the present invention, yarn control means is provided for insuring the removal of a broken yarn end from the exhausted yarn sensor 16 when a looped or tangled yarn is caught by the yarn guide, which usually occurs upon the last few winds of the yarn of the active supply package coming off together, so as to prevent the repeated operation of the supply end finding suction tube 32 and the knot tier 33. The present yarn control means includes a yarn guide 40, in the form of a twisted pigtail wire, which is normally positioned at a predetermined level above the active supply package A, as illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 2. The yarn guide is provided with a'yarn passage opening of sufficient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough as the yarn is withdrawn from the active supply package A and the yarn passage opening is small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough.

Means is provided for supporting the yarn guide 40 for upward movement when engaged by looped or tangled yarn so that the yarn guide 40 is moved from the dotted line position shown in FIG. 2 to the solid line po sition when engaged by the looped or tangled yarn. This support means includes an elongate operating arm 41 in the form ofa rod having the yarn guide 40 formed at one end. Means is provided for pivotally supporting the other end of the rod 41 on a yarn control cross-bar 42 which is fixed in the medial portion on the tubular drive sleeve 21. The pivotal support means for the end of the rod 41 includes a support block 43 fixed at its lower end on the cross-bar 42. A saddle bracket, including legs 44 extending downwardly on opposite sides, is pivotally supported as at 45 on the support block 43. The saddle bracket includes a bridging portion 46 connected to the upper end of the legs 44 and extending across the support block 43 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

Resilient means is provided for resisting upward movement of the yarn guide 40' and for returning the yarn guide to the substantially horizontal dotted line position upon breakage of the yarn in advance of the exhausted yarn sensor 16 so that the broken yarn end is withdrawn from the sensor 16 when the yarn guide 40 is returned to the normal position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. This resilient means includes a tension spring 50 which is connected at its lower end to a spring perch on the cross-bar 42 and at its upper end to the rod 41 at a position spaced outwardly from the pivot point thereof.

Stop means is provided for limiting both the upper and lower movements of the yarn guide 40 and comprises the bridging portion 46 of the saddle bracket. The bridging portion 46 engages the upper surface of the block 43, as shown in FIG. 3, to provide the stop for the lower or normal position of the yarn guide 40. The rear portion of the bridging portion 46 engages the upper surface of the block 43 for limiting upward movement of the yarn guide 40, as shown in FIG. 2.

'The bridging portion 46 provides upper and lower stops because of the positioning of the pivot location 45 rearwardly of the bridging portion 46.

The support means for the inner end of the support rod 41 includes a collar 52 fixed on the upper surface of the bridgirig portion 46 for adjustably supporting the end portion of the rod 41. The end portion of therod 41 extends through the collar 52 and a set screw 53 is threaded through the collar 52 and engages the rod 41 to permit longitudinal and rotational adjustment of the rod 41 relative to the collar 52.

To aid in properly positioning the yarn when the ac tive and reserve yarn supply packages are indexed, yarn control means is also provided for the reserve yarn sup ply package R. To this end, a second yarn guide 40 is supported on the opposite side of the yarn control cross-bar 42 and extends rearwardly and out over the reserve package R. Yarn holding guides 55 are also provided on the outer ends of the yarn control crossbar 42. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide 55 is pivotally supported at its lower end in a bracket 56 which is fixed on the cross-bar 42. The guide 55 is normally maintained in the position shown by a torsion spring 57 and the yarn from the reserve supply package R passes through the rearwardly extending yarn guide 40 (FIG. 1), beneath the yarn holding guide 55, over the guide wire 14, and into the yarn holding opening 31. As the yarn control cross-bar 42 is rotated with the package support cross-bar 26, the yarn holding guide 55 engages an abutment 58 extending down from the housing H to impart partial rotation to the guide and release the yarn held thereby so that the winding of the new yarn can be started.

Since the supply tubes on which the large diameter yarn supply packages are wound are relatively short, on the order of about 3 inches, it sometimes happens that the last few rounds of yarn wound on the supply tube are sloughed off and come off in a looped or tangled condition, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The tangled or looped yarn, being pulled upwardly by the take-up package 12, is thus caught in the yarn guide 40 and raises the same upwardly about the pivot point and against the resistance of the tension spring 50. When the yarn guide 40 reaches its upper stop limit, with the rear surface of the bridging portion 46 engaging the upper end of the support block 43, the yarn will break in advance of the sensor 16, as illustrated in FIG. 2. If the yarn were permitted to remain in this position, it would continue to support the plunger 29 of the sensor 16 so that the automatic winding machine would receive an indication that the yarn was merely broken and not the true indication that the reserve package of yarn had become exhausted.

Under these conditions, the automatic winding machine would continue to seek to find the broken yarn ends and retie the same to continue the winding operation. Since this false indication would not normally be corrected until observed by an operator, a substantial loss of production could occur before this malfunction was detected by the operator. In accordance with the present invention, the tangled yarn end is lowered to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 2 as shown as the yarn breaks to thereby withdraw the broken end of the yarn back through the sensor 16. Then the exhausted yarn sensor 16 would trigger the clutch mechanism 25 and index the yarn packages so that the reserve package R is brought forwardly to the active position and the winding operation is automatically resumed as soon as the new yarn is tied. Thus, the yarn control means of the present invention automatically operates upon the occurrence of a looped or tangled yarn passing upwardly from the supply package, as sometimes occurs at the end of the winding of a supply package, to automatically remove the .broken yarn end from the sensor to thereby prevent a false indication that a simple yarn breakage has occurred and to give a true indication that the active supply package is exhausted of yarn.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed is:

1. In an automatic winding machine including a plurality of winding stations with means for winding yarn from an active supply package and onto a take-up package of each of said winding stations, sensor means at each station for detecting the exhaustion of yarn on an active supply package, and means operable in response to operation of said sensor means for presenting a reserve supply package to active position for winding onto said take-up package upon exhaustion of the active supply package, the combination therewith of yarn control means for removing a broken yarn end from said sensor means when the yarn breaks because of looped or tangled yarn being withdrawn from the active supply package, said yarn control means comprising a. a yarn guide positioned at a predetermined level above the active supply package and having a yarn passage opening therein of sufficient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough as the yarn is withdrawn from the active supply package and being small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough, b. means supporting said yarn guide for upward movement when engaged by looped or tangled yarn, and resilient means connected to said support means for resistingv upward movement of said yarn guide and for returning said yarn guide to said predetermined level upon breakage of said yarn in advance of said sensor means so that, the broken yarn end is withdrawn from said sensor means when said yarn guide is returned to said predetermined level by said resilient means.

2. In an apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said support means (b) comprises an elongate arm having said yarn guide fixed at one end, and including means for pivotally supporting said arm at the other end.

3. In an apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said resilient means (c) comprises a tension spring connected at one end to said arm at a point spaced from the pivoted end for normally urging said arm to a sub stantially horizontal position.

4. In an apparatus according; to claim 3 including stop means for limiting downward movement of said arm to the substantially horizontal position and for limiting upward pivoting movement of said arm when said yarn guide is engaged by looped or tangled yarn.

5. In an apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said pivotal support means comprises a support block, a

saddle bracket including legs extending downwardly on connection of said legs to said support block. and wherein said bridging portion defines said stop means to limit downward and upward movement of said arm.

7. In an apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said support means for said other end of said arm comprises a collar fixed on said bridging portion, and wherein said elongate arm comprises a rod extending through said collar, and including a set screw threaded through said collar and engaging said rod to permit longitudinal and rotational adjustment of said rod relative to said collar.

8. In an apparatus according to claim 1 including a package support cross-bar supporting said active and reserve supply packages on opposite ends thereof, a tubular sleeve supporting said package support cross-bar and being rotatable to change the positions of said active and reserve supply packages upon exhaustion of the yarn on said active'supply package, and a yarn con trol cross-bar spaced above said package support crossbar and fixed for rotation with said tubular sleeve, and wherein said yarn control means is provided on each side of said yarn control cross-bar for operation with said active and reserve supply packages.

l= l l l l 

1. In an automatic winding machine including a plurality of winding stations with means for winding yarn from an active supply package and onto a take-up package of each of said winding stations, sensor means at each station for detecting the exhaustion of yarn on an active supply package, and means operable in response to operation of said sensor means for presenting a reserve supply package to active position for winding onto said take-up package upon exhaustion of the active supply package, the combination therewith of yarn control means for removing a broken yarn end from said sensor means when the yarn breaks because of looped or tangled yarn being withdrawn from the active supply package, said yarn control means comprising a. a yarn guide positioned at a predetermined level above the active supply package and haviNg a yarn passage opening therein of sufficient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough as the yarn is withdrawn from the active supply package and being small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough, b. means supporting said yarn guide for upward movement when engaged by looped or tangled yarn, and c. resilient means connected to said support means for resisting upward movement of said yarn guide and for returning said yarn guide to said predetermined level upon breakage of said yarn in advance of said sensor means so that, the broken yarn end is withdrawn from said sensor means when said yarn guide is returned to said predetermined level by said resilient means.
 2. In an apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said support means (b) comprises an elongate arm having said yarn guide fixed at one end, and including means for pivotally supporting said arm at the other end.
 3. In an apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said resilient means (c) comprises a tension spring connected at one end to said arm at a point spaced from the pivoted end for normally urging said arm to a substantially horizontal position.
 4. In an apparatus according to claim 3 including stop means for limiting downward movement of said arm to the substantially horizontal position and for limiting upward pivoting movement of said arm when said yarn guide is engaged by looped or tangled yarn.
 5. In an apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said pivotal support means comprises a support block, a saddle bracket including legs extending downwardly on opposite sides of and being pivotally supported on said support block, said saddle bracket including a bridging portion connected to the upper ends of said legs and extending across said support block, and means supporting said other end of said arm on said bridging portion.
 6. In an apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said bridging portion is positioned forwardly of the pivoted connection of said legs to said support block, and wherein said bridging portion defines said stop means to limit downward and upward movement of said arm.
 7. In an apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said support means for said other end of said arm comprises a collar fixed on said bridging portion, and wherein said elongate arm comprises a rod extending through said collar, and including a set screw threaded through said collar and engaging said rod to permit longitudinal and rotational adjustment of said rod relative to said collar.
 8. In an apparatus according to claim 1 including a package support cross-bar supporting said active and reserve supply packages on opposite ends thereof, a tubular sleeve supporting said package support cross-bar and being rotatable to change the positions of said active and reserve supply packages upon exhaustion of the yarn on said active supply package, and a yarn control cross-bar spaced above said package support cross-bar and fixed for rotation with said tubular sleeve, and wherein said yarn control means is provided on each side of said yarn control cross-bar for operation with said active and reserve supply packages. 